Batgirl (Schumacherverse)

"Men... always doing things the hard way."

―Batgirl to Batman and Robin.^[src]

Batgirl was Batman's second sidekick. She was the niece of Alfred Pennyworth.

History

Barbara Wilson was the daughter of Margaret Wilson, who was the sister of Alfred Pennyworth. Barbara and Alfred were apparently close throughout Barbara's entire life, particularly when Barbara's mother and father died in a car accident. While Alfred lived in the United States and worked as the Wayne Family Butler, Barbara remained in England and attended boarding school. However, Barbara felt particularly disgusted at the idea of her uncle working as a servant, and when she discovered that Alfred was ill with a rare disease, flew to America in order to 'free' him.

Upon arriving in the States, Barbara met Alfred's "other family", Dick Grayson (who was immediately attracted to her, and vice-versa) and Bruce Wayne. Bruce invited Barbara to stay, during which, Alfred's disease grew steadily worse. While Alfred grew closer to death, he shared with Barbara an encrypted disk, which contained all of Batman's secrets. Barbara immediately hacked into disc, and discovered that Bruce and Dick were Batman and Robin, and that Alfred had planned for her future involvement.

After she donned a suit that was designed for her by Alfred, Barbara, under the guise of Batgirl, defeated Poison Ivy and saved Batman and Robin. Together, the three of them defeated Mr. Freeze, who attempted to create a new ice-age in Gotham City, and retrieved the cure for Alfred's disease. Barbara then officially joined the family and the team.

Gallery

Concepts

Screen Captures

Promotional Images

Behind the Scenes

That incarnation of Barbara was Alfred Pennyworth's niece and was named Barbara Wilson, rather than being Commissioner James Gordon's daughter, Barbara Gordon, like in the comics. That was due to alterations in Commissioner James Gordon's character where his relationship with Batman was severely downplayed and was purely professional.

Trivia

Rather than be a red-head like in the comics, Barbara was blonde. She was the second blonde-haired Batgirl. The first was Betty Kane, the first Batgirl (though called "Bat-Girl") who eventually became Flamebird.
The Batgirl costume that was used in Batman & Robin was later repainted and used by Dina Meyer, who played Barbara Gordon/Batgirl/Oracle for the short-lived Birds of Prey TV show.
Although Batgirl normally wore a cowl like Batman, in that film, she only wore the cowl while she drove the Batcycle. Otherwise, she used a mask that was similar to Robin's.
Barbara and Dick retained their romantic banter, like in the comics.
That was the first Batgirl who wore thigh-high boots, as seen in the suiting up scene. The second was Barbara Gordon in The Batman.
Alfred had two nieces who appeared in comics. The first was Valerie in Batman Sunday comics (Feb-March 1945). The second was Daphne Pennyworth, who was the daughter of Alfred's older brother Wilfred, who first appeared in Batman #216 (Nov. 1969). Valerie's parents were never revealed.